Monster
by MoonMonya
Summary: Alfred F Jones is a young scientist that works at a top-secret science lab, where mutants and freaks are the test subjects. When one day a snake man, or a Naga, as Alfred learns they are called, is brought into the mutant zoo, Alfred finds himself feeling something that he should, under no circumstances feel; compassion for the creature.
1. Chapter 1

It smelled of dirt and blood in the huge bunker that was hidden deep under the ground, built of iron. The way in way sealed, protected by codes and passwords. Getting in was no problem, getting out though was a whole different story...

Heavy footsteps echoes back in the silence as a handsome young man walked in between the iron walls, his blue eyes-hidden behind glasses- skimmed over the paper that he held. Alfred F Jones didn't look like he belonged in this dull place. He was handsome, full of youth and energy, not phased the slightest about the gloomy atmosphere of his workplace. There was always a bright grin on his features; it lit the place up just a bit. His co-workers appreciated it, but they didn't think Alfred would last long...

The handsome young man ran a hand trough his dirty blond hair, avoiding the cowlick that always stood up, avoiding gravity. He was a scientist for a top-secret lab, somewhere in America. Even Alfred didn't know where; he had been blindfolded when he had been transported here. It was rare to have someone as young to work at an important place like this, yet Alfred was of extraordinary talent, which showed even at his early age of twenty.

Alfred halted as he heard a door slide open on the other side of the hallway. A curious eyebrow was raised, there should be nobody going to the zoo today... The young man felt a shiver run up his spine just at the thought of might be coming his way down the hall. In the zoo they kept the most horrible of mutants, some had five legs, some had two heads, some looked just like ordinary humans, but they... didn't die. Alfred had personally witnessed how a human's head had been cut off- an hour later it was right back in its rightful place...

As the steps came closer, Alfred pressed himself against the wall, seeing as there wasn't much room in the hallway. He waited patiently, curious to see the new creature they brought for experimenting. Curiosity was a very bad thing to have in this establishment...

The first scientists came into view, carrying behind them a heavy looking cage. From that distance, Alfred could see a tip of a snake-like tail hanging out from between the bars. A snake? Had they found mutated animals to experiment on? But... wasn't that cage too big for a snake?

The first two scientists passed by, the cage came into view and Alfred's eyes widened at the sight before him. Clenching the iron bars tightly was a man, not much older than Alfred himself. His green eyes were wide with evident fear as he stared down the young scientists. His hair was messy and light blonde, twigs and leaves in it showed the wild life he had lived before he had been stuck into a cage. Before the man disappeared out of sight, Alfred spotted scales on his torso, and instead of legs, a long, emerald-scaled tail coiled around itself on the floor of the cage...

"Hey, kid! Scram, this is no place for you to be!" one of the two armed guards that trailed behind the cage had stopped in front of Alfred, gripping his gun as a small threat. The young man could only nod and hurry off, clutching the pile of papers he had been holding to his chest.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a rainy Thursday evening, drops of water had made their way all over the ground, but not once did they touch down onto the steel roof of the bunker. The plants that grew with the help of the rain never once even brushed against the steel with their roots; the bunker was too deep down.

On the surface Christmas was nearing. Shops had little gnomes on their windows, even though four weeks still remained until the holidays. Decorations were set out on lawns and people were already starting to think of what to give to their family members and loved ones.

But the Christmas feeling didn't spread past the steel walls as the holiday was never celebrated; it was only work, work and more work down there. Only Alfred still dreamed about a Christmas tree and presents as he laid down on his bed, staring at the grey ceiling of the small room that was assigned to him. ...He couldn't even send his brother a Christmas card...

But Christmas weren't the only thing on his mind; there was a creature that just wouldn't leave his thoughts, bugging him even at night, in his dreams. Alfred still thought about the snake-man that had been brought there. Those wide green eyes were so innocent... So scared. Alfred coudln't help but to feel bad.

The young man quickly shook his head. No; he shouldn't feel compassion for these creatures! It would bring no good! And yes, as soon as Alfred shut his eyes, that man was staring him down again, pleading for help with his gaze.

He couldn't take it anymore! He had to go check on the snake-man; to see how he was doing. Maybe they weren't treating him right, or... or... Why was he so worked up about him anyway?

Sighing, Alfred stood from his bed, taking a second to get his balance back. The American had to duck to get outside; the doors were rather small, but he supposed it was just so to save some material or whatnot.

The bunker was as eerie as ever; having minimal sources of light out in the hallways. Alfred still sometimes got lost there; all the halls looked the same and he had to wonder how long the other scientists had worked here to know exactly where to go. From time to time, he pitied himself and the others. He didn't like it here... It felt like more of a prison than a job. Never seeing the sun, or feeling the soft breeze on his skin. Worse was the knowing that something could go wrong. Someone could leave a door open, someone could push the wrong button and all the creatures held in their cells would escape, no doubt thirsty for the blood of scientists after all these years of torture.

"Alfred F. Jones," the voice recognition device sounded a satisfied beep in response and the heavy doors slid open to reveal a long hallway with countless of doors running on both walls. These were the observation rooms for each creature's cell; Alfred avoided these places unless he was forced to go. There was too much sadness and death in each of these cells; he couldn't handle it too well, being still young. Though he had been told that it would pass as he grew older.

Alfred pushed open the door on which, in bold numbers was painted A344C. None of the creatures, of course, got any names, just numbers to represent them. The moment Alfred sicreetly slipped into the watching room, a dull thumping reached his ears; as if someone was beating something against a wall. Curious now, the young man approached the lonely computer screen that stood on the table in the middle of the room. One glance at it confirmed Alfred's suspicions; the snake-man was pounding the wall with his long tail; as if that did any good.

The young scientist rested his hand on the image of the snake. He felt so bad for him; the look of horror in his eyes had never faded. A minute or so of pounding passed and the snake grew tired, collapsing onto the ground and staying there, awkwardly laying on his back. That's when Alfred noticed that the camera showed something slightly darker on his fingers. Blood...? Had he tried to scratch the walls and hurt himself?

"I-It's none of my business..." Alfred shook his head and took a step away from the monitor. It wasn't, right? Someone had been appointed to him and... But why weren't they taking care of their test subject, then?

Deciding that he couldn't just let the poor creature hurt, all alone and scared, Alfred almost ran out of the room. He forced his legs to move slower when he reached a more crowded area, with workers moving in and out of the subjects cages after having experimented on them.

A bandage that had been left laying around was snatched by the America as he made his way towards the holding cell of A344C; he had forced himself to remember that number. Nobody noticed him as he slipped into the room, the iron doors shutting securely behind him. Not once did it occur to him that perhaps, just perhaps, the creature wouldn't be friendly...


	3. Chapter 3

As the iron doors slid shut behind Alfred with a screeching noise he realized, that he was staring into the eyes of his possible death. Yet he wasn't afraid. The dark green eyes captured him, making him unable to move as he got lost in them, like in a deep forest that never ends. Perfect eyes for a predator to lure in his prey.

"Don't hurt me..." only when the creature spoke did Alfred understand the emotion that filled those captivating eyes; fear. How much pain had they caused this poor creature? How much suffering? Tearing him away from his home, everything he knew, and locking him up in this iron cage. Only a second later did it register to Alfred; the snake could talk!

"I won't! I'm here to help you!" despite everything, Alfred flashed his usual, enthusiastic grin towards the snake. To prove his words he reached out his hands to show that he had only bandages in them.

Slowly, the snake moved closer. Alfred thought it must have been because he hadn't heard it in so long, but the sound the scales made against the concrete reminded him of rain, tapping silently on a rooftop. But he wasn't sure; he had long ago forgotten the sound of all natural.

The snake reached out his hand and gently placed it on top of Alfred's, showing to him that he trusted him, even a little bit. Alfred gently traced his fingers along the scales on the back of the snakes hand, before bandaging it up. To Alfred's relief, the blood was dry and the wound turned out to be not as bad as he thought it would.

"Thank you..." Alfred almost missed the silent murmur that came from the snake, but he was glad he heard it. With a wide grin, he gave the snake-man an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

"You're welcome, dude!" he announced loudly; the snake shied away at first, but then came closer again, realizing the man meant him no harm.

"Dude, your assigned number is cool and all... but do you have a name?" Alfred asked, his grin from ear to ear as he awaited a response.

"... Arthur." this made Alfred raise an eyebrow. What a ... human sounding name, for a creature that dwells in the forest.

"Oh well, I'm Alfred! It sure is nice to meet ya!" Alfred reached out his hand again, for a handshake, but then quickly let it fall to his side, seeing as Arthur was rather confused by the gesture.

"Uhh anyway, dude, I've got to run! Y'know, work and all! I'll try to visit you, but no promises!" to Alfred it seemed that this was enough of a bond to promise visiting. ...Arthur wasn't like the rest of them...

In a bit of a shock, Arthur watched the happy American slip trough the iron doors. As soon as he was gone, bars were lowered again, cutting off any chance of escape. Arthur sighed; he would never see his forest again...

-

"Jones!"

Alfred jumped straight up from his seat when he heard his name called. His boss -a man he had never met, had ordered him to come to his office. Alfred wondered if it was something to do with him always stealing an extra cupcake in the cafeteria.

"Ah, so you're the Jones I've heard so much about. Our youngest scientist." the man that sat behind the desk was balding and had an impressive triple chin, but also had an intimidating aura to him. Alfred guessed it was because of the skulls hung around his office and one, which was obviously human, set on his desk as a paperweight.

"Yessir! I try hard to do my best here,sir!" Alfred shifted his body weight impatiently from one foot to the other, giving a goofy grin. He knew this wasn't about him getting praise from the big boss, and he wanted to cut to the chase.

"I hear you managed to make our newest test subject speak... I heard his name was Arthur, wasn't it?" Alfred felt his heart skip a beat. Shit! He was seen after all!

"We don't know why he's so... friendly towards you, but we're going to use it to our advantage. Lad, you're going to be assigned to Arthur."

A sigh of relief escaped Alfred's lips; so he wasn't in trouble. And he really liked the idea of taking care of Arthur! Maybe he could even get to know him better!

"You start tomorrow, Jones, don't make me regret my decision." his tone made Alfred take a deep breath; it wasn't exactly a reassuring tone.

"You won't, sir! It's a promise!" Alfred almost squeaked, he felt as if there was something squeezing his throat. A dismissive hand gesture gave Alfred the permission to leave and the young American bolted out of the door and back towards his room. Even though he could clearly have heard the threat from his boss' voice, he was also exited to work with Arthur. Maybe he'd get the snake-man the treatment he deserved.


	4. Chapter 4

The morning following to Alfred's raise started early for the blond youth. It was a surprise to everyone to see him the cafeteria line at six in the morning, yet still bouncing with joy. His never ending energy brought a smile to most scientists' chapped lips, as well as to the tired lips of the lady behind the counter who always rewarded Alfred with an extra cupcake.

"A cheese sammy and a cupcake, please!" Alfred announced loudly as he showed forward his plastic plate. As soon as the requested items had been loaded onto his plate, Alfred bolted away with a simple 'thank you' shouted over his shoulder. He had to make sure his special seat wan't taken by anyone else! Even though his special seat was a broken chair and nobody else ever sat there. One of the chair's legs was too short, and every time it hit the ground it made the funniest noise, almost like a mouse would. This tended to always upset his female coworkers.

A creaking sound echoes in the room as Alfred plopped down onto the chair and released his plate onto the table, where it started sliding towards the other edge of it. Alfred gasped; he hadn't been counting on the laws of physics to apply to an awesome scientist like him! Luckily for Alfred, his breakfast was saved by the woman who was sitting opposite of him, reading a book. The plate was gracefully placed in front of Alfred and the woman raised her dulled, blue eyes, hidden behind a pair of glasses.

"Mornin'! How'd ya sleep?" Alfred's smile didn't waver even at the stern, yet tired, look he was being given by the older scientist. His attention was brought to her sandy blond hair, which fell onto her shoulders; it usually went into every direction and was an un-tamable mess.

"I slept well, thank you for asking, Alfred," she responded in a silent voice; she always spoke silently, it was a habit as she worked with the most dangerous specimens in the "zoo". Seeing that Alfred wasn't going to leave, she closed her book and leaned her head on her pale hands.

"Is it true, Karmen?" Alfred asked then, lowering his voice to a whisper. His curious, wide eyes earned a twitch of lips from the woman which could have been considered a smile.

"Yes, I'm getting out in a few days, when they've arranged everything," she responded. It was rare for people as young as Karmen to be let out of the facility; it was usually the people in their late 60's who were allowed out.

"I'm so happy for you! Maybe you'll even make it out in time before Christmas! And then you have to send me a postcard!" Alfred had stood up and waltzed over to Karmen to give her a big hug. Confusing murmuring started up in the room at Alfred's actions and loud voice; the beginning of their conversation had gone unnoticed.

"I'll try, Alfred; maybe even a little Christmas present from Raivis and me," said Karmen after having recovered from the scare Alfred's hug had given her. She didn't remember the last time she had been hugged, but a smile spread on her face as Alfred reminded her that she had a son waiting for her at home.

"Dude, you're, like, the best! Send me a picture of the little guy all grown up too then!" Alfred squeezed her lender form even tighter, before letting go.

"I've told you to stop calling me 'dude'," Karmen rolled her eyes, but added a warm smile then.

"Ofkay tfen, dudette!" Alfred's words were barely recognizible as he tried to swallow his sandwich whole; Karmen was simply glad that they were in a room full of doctors.

"I gotta catch ya later, dudette," Alfred said as he stuffed his cupcakes into his pockets, to eat later, "I'm running late!"

And with that, Alfred was running off, towards the "zoo". Karmen shook her head and amusement; if there was anything she would miss about this place, it would be Alfred, no doubt.

-

At first it was only a silent tapping that was heard in Arthur' cage. It reminded him of rain, causing a pleasant dream of his green home to invade his mind. The sleeping snake's lips turned upwards into a smile and his tail started swishing back and forth across the floor, like a tail of a happy puppy.

"Yo, Arthur, dude- EEK! What is this?! Why is it here?!" Alfred came rushing into the room, but jumped out of hi skin upon seeing four dead rats in front of him. The snake's body tensed up at the sudden noise; his head snapped up and turned towards Alfred, anger in his green eyes.

"That happens to be my breakfast. Leave it alone." his heavy tail was slammed against the ground, making the young scientist jump again. "You woke me." the snake then stated. "It was a nice dream."

"O-Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't know!" Alfred managed to say from behind chattering teeth. As Arthur's green eyes softened, Alfred forced himself to calm down and release a breath he had been holding. "I was assigned to you... Uh, yeah, to take care of you and all."

The snake slowly slithered closer to Alfred; he has decided to trust him after what he did for him. Arthur reached his bandaged hand out and after a moment of hesitation, Alfred accepted it, holding it gently. "What is it, Arthur?" Alfred asked, rubbing a scale on the back of his hand with his thumb.

"I trust you," Arthur said simply, before withdrawing his hand and backing off. This made Alfred's chest swell with pride; he was so glad that Arthur had decided to trust him, even after what his coworkers did to him.

Striding over to the table that had been placed in the room for him, Alfred scribbled noted into his small notebook. Meanwhile, Arthur had curled his tail around his pile of breakfast mice. His blue eyes on Arthur, Alfred sat himself onto the table and watched the snake swallow a mouse whole. An expression of disgust made itself evident on Arthur's face.

"B-But it's raw!" he chocked out a moment later, having recovered tom the taste.

"You don't like raw?" Alfred's eyebrows shot up.

"I am only half snake," Arthur's tail tensed and his eyes narrowed dangerously at Alfred. "I am human enough to have taste buds." He was now fully turned towards Alfred, his eyes bearing a venomous glare, directed right at the scientist.

"I'm sorry!" Arthur raised his hands in front of his face, looking as scared as when he had first crashed into Arthur's cage unannounced. Arthur's tail flicked in annoyance, but he soon turned his eyes away- Alfred allowed himself a sigh of relief then.

"Umm, Artie, you can have these... I'll get new ones at lunch anyway," Alfred was hopped off the table and was not timidly approaching Arthur, holding out his two cupcakes. As the snake turned around, Alfred froze on his spot and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Thank you," Alfred heard Arthur's voice and then felt the weight off the cupcakes leave his palms. His cerulean eyes slip open to be met with the sight of Arthur eagerly swallowing the first cupcake; paper and all. Before he could do the same with the other one, though, Alfred grabbed Arthur by his wrist.

"Silly... Take the paper off first" he said, removing the cupcake from Arthur's grip an quickly peeling the paper from it, before handing it back. He noticed a small blush on Arthur's cheeks, probably out of embarrassment.

Once Arthur was done with his breakfast (he has to admit that it tasted much better without the paper ) the two of them settled comfortably, seeing as neither of them was going anywhere. Alfred sat on the table again, feet dangling over the edge, and Arthur positioned himself on the floor, his arms resting folded on the table and his chin upon them.

"You don't mind if I ask you some questions, right?" Alfred asked, entertaining himself by rolling his pen between his fingers. He noticed Arthur shake his head from the corner of his eye.

"So... what exactly are you?" Alfred started with the first question written down in his notebook.

"The only name we have been given in mythology is 'Naga'. We don't know better, so that's what we decided to call ourselves." Arthur responded, slipping shut his eyes for a moment. He didn't do it as often as snaked, but from time to time his forked tongue slipped out to smell the air.

"Have you seen more of your kind?" Alfred asked after a short pause for writing notes down.

"I have three brothers and a sister back at home. They must be so worried..." for the last remark, Alfred glanced over to Arthur with a sympathetic look.

"What's your home like?" he blurted out. This was not a question he was supposed to ask, but Alfred found that he really wanted to know.

"Well... It's a deep forest; a kingdom of peace. The grass i like a sea of green, dotted with oh so many colours, as flowers always seem to bloom there. The sky is never visible, obscured by giant trees that seem like they want to reach up and touch the sun. When it rains, the most beautiful sound is played on the large leaves of the trees that protect us. The animals don't hide there and the birds of the woods have learnt the most complex melodies."

As Arthur had talked, Alfred had slipped himself onto his stomach, so he would look right at Arthur as he weaved the beautiful images into Alfred's head. he also noticed a spark unlike he had ever seen before in Arthur's eyes; he could have sworn that he had seen the forest reflect in them.

"I was a fool for leaving... Look where I ended up because of my stubbornness." the snake sighed silently and hid his face.

"Artie... You'll return there some day; I promise you!" And Alfred wanted to come along. He didn't want to stay locked up between these iron walls until he was sixty something! He noticed that Arthur had raised his eyes again and was not looking at Alfred with hopeful eyes.

"I'll hold you on that," was all the snake responded.

Both of Arthur's bushy eyebrows rose when Alfred yawned; loudly. "Sorry, I woke up early- uhm, earlier than I'm used to waking up anyway."

Arthur didn't respond, but lifted his upper body off the table. "Come, I'll show you how my brother used to hold me when I slept," Arthur said softly. Alfred slid himself off the table and, as Arthur instructed, laid down. It took him all his willpower not to freak out when a strong tail wrapped around his middle, acting much like a blanket. A very warm blanket. When Alfred leaned back he found that there was some of the tail behind him to support his head and upper body. Only now did he realize how lengthy Arthur's tail was.

"Sleep," came Arthur's order from beside him. He felt a pair of arms hold him, before he drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

"Jones!"

Alfred's eyes flew open when the call of his name registered fully to his still sleep clouded mind. There was a murmur of confusion when he saw only green in front of his eyes, but upon resting his hand on the green thing, he discovered it to be the tip of Arthur's tail. Alfred gently pushed the tail off his face and fixed his glasses, which hadn't, luckily, been crushed or scratched by the scales.

"I-I'm up... Whatup?" Alfred's blond eyebrow arched up in question upon seeing his boss stand on the doorway, out of breath and red of face. Two panicking guards stood in front of him, their guns pointed at Arthur. Alfred tried to jump up at the sight of the weapons, but fell right down, as Arthur's heavy tail wrapped around him. Alfred could hear the snake hiss next to his ear.

"D-Don't shoot him!" Alfred cried in panic, trying to fight against Arthur's heavy tail; this only resulted in the snake holding him tighter. Seeing that the guards weren't going to lower their weapons, Alfred turned himself towards Arthur. Only now he noticed the look on Arthur's face; his green eyes were almost burning with hatred.

"Artie... It's okay, they're not here to harm you, I promise," as he spoke, Alfred rested his hand over the tip of Arthur's tail and gently stroked it. "I'm here, Artie; I won't let them hurt you."

A sigh of relief escaped Alfred's lips as he felt the tail around him relax and eventually slip off his form, though Arthur's expression was still a mask of hatred.

"Fire."

Alfred's cerulean eyes went wide as the single word registered to him. He turned to the guards just in time to see one of them pull the trigger. Neither Arthur nor Alfred had time to react; a syringe had been shot right into Arthur's neck.

There wasn't even a cry of pain, like Alfred had expected; Arthur simply went limp and collapsed, leaving Alfred to catch his torso and gently lower it to the ground. Alfred felt like fainting out of relief himself when his fingers brushed against the syringe that had been shot into Arthur; it was only a tranquilizer.

"Jesus fuck- Was that really necessary?" Alfred mumbled in a small voice; he was still trying to steady out his breathing.

"It had to be done, Jones. We wouldn't risk transporting him to the labs while he's awake." Alfred heard his boss' voice from behind him; it sounded like he had just ran up several flights of stairs. Walking all the way from his office to the zoo must have been a real accomplishment for him.

Alfred could only nod dumbly in response and watch as the two guards tie Arthur's hands up and carry him to a cage, in which he was to be transported to the labs.

The lights were blinding even trough Arthur's closed eyelids; even the attempts to squeeze his eyes shut tighter did nothing for him. The tip of his tail moved ever so slightly in irritation, but it seemed that it was all the movement he could muster. His body felt like it was encased in cement. Except he could clearly feel leather against his wrists; the strips bound him to the surface he had been laid on.

There were voices now; Arthur's hazy mind recognized a female voice and a familiar male one. The female sounded worried, while the male spoke in between long inhales and exhales. His ears moved as he tried to listen out for a familiarly obnoxious voice. Nothing.

There were only a few things that Arthur remembered from the next few hours. Firstly there was a hesitant hand placed onto his stomach, smooth skin cold against his. There was a murmur of apology by the female voice, which now sounded desperate even.

Yet it wasn't even half as desperate as Arthur's pleading and cries for help when his mind was consumed by pain.


End file.
